City floats new Rec Center rate plan

Carroll’s Parks and Recreation Department is taking a third swing this year at a new membership-and-rate plan for the Recreation Center.After seeing two previous recommendations scuttled in the council chambers over the past month Parks and Recreation Director Jack Wardell has scaled back increases and lowered a proposed monthly cost across all membership categories. Rates for existing categories would increase from 4 percent to 5 percent under the plan expected to be considered by the council on Wednesday during a meeting that starts at 5:15 p.m. in the Farner Government Building.The plan adds categories for single-parent-led families: $353 annually or $43 a month; full-time college students, $171 annually or $25.50 by the month; and a senior couple, $319 annually or $41 by the month. Automatic monthly withdrawals for those who want a full-year membership will be set to reflect the annual rate.A family membership would increase from $382 to $401 or cost $45.50 a month for those who don’t want complete year. Other rates would change as follows: single adult up from $191 to $201, or $27 by the month; a single youth up from $132 to $139 or $20 by the month; and a senior single up from $173 to $180 a year or $25.50 by the month.Wardell is recommending the council waive all three readings of the ordinance and put it in place for next year. A memo to the council does not indicate when the new rates would go into effect if approved.A plan rejected by the council two weeks ago would have included a 6.8 percent increase in family membership rates from $382 to $408. Family memberships also could have been purchased monthly for $50 — meaning if a family pays for a year, month by month, the total cost would have been $600.The reasoning behind the monthly option in the rate plan is two-fold: it affords flexibility for those who don’t want to join for the full year while giving an incentive for members who do.